


Birds of a Feather

by tirsynni



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Blood and Injury, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 22:56:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: The problem with being a spirit: when Hyrule's Light and Last Hope collapses with a mortal injury in front of Revali, it is difficult to apply first aid when his wings go right through the idiot.





	Birds of a Feather

Revali snarled and paced on Vah Medoh’s head. It wasn’t like there was anything  _ else _ he could do. When he first opened his eyes on Medoh a century ago and looked through his own wings, he wondered if he was trapped due to unfinished business or punishment. For decades, he wondered. Right then, he knew which: punishment.

Of all the reckless, insane,  _ idiotic _ … Perhaps  _ Link _ was his punishment, not the inability to pass on to join his ancesters in the sky. 

Had Link been this foolish a hundred years ago? He had been so quiet then it was hard to tell. Princess Zelda, ironically, made a good leash for Link, after all that time frustrated with Link acting as hers.

Another growl, green light fluffing around him like angry huffs of air, and he looked over the edge again. No sign of Link appearing on the rock below him. Revali was trapped to Medoh and the area right around her, but if he strained enough, he could see the shrine at the village. If Link didn’t transport himself straight to Revali, he might go there. He seemed to have a good relationship with the white Rito Teba.

Yet no blue light appeared. No sign of Link. Nothing but the memory of Link calling upon his power, the familiar red lights of the Guardians aiming at his chest.

If the idiot got himself killed, Revali would… Revali would… Revali would do something horrendous and clever and vicious. Didn’t he realize he was their last hope? Didn’t he realize he should be more careful?

And. Well. It would simply be ridiculous if the idiot got himself killed, anyway. Shouldn’t he know by now to be careful? Why was he even around Guardians, anyway?

Would Revali even know if Link died, or would he just rot here on Medoh, ignorant forever?

Revali scowled and checked the two spots again. Of course, it was possible that Link might go to a different location. While the Zora were in many ways inferior to the Rito, their healing abilities were superb. 

If, of course, Link  _ needed _ their healing abilities.

After all this, no Guardian was allowed to kill Link. The Calamity wasn’t allowed to touch him. No. After all this stress, Revali was the only one with the right to kill Link.

Even Link seemed to know it, as just then, a familiar blue light shone on the rock below him. Green fire sparking around him, Revali darted down to yell at the idiot. Didn’t he realize Revali had better things...to…

Do?

The blue light faded, and Link stood, eyes wide and solemn in his pale face. Time froze then, like when Revali paused in midair for his amazing shots, like when Windblight aimed that last, fatal blow.

Long enough for Revali to stare at Link’s left shoulder, at the burnt cloth, blackened skin, and the blood covering Link’s entire left side.

Link’s expression never changed. He stared at Revali and then he didn’t, eyes falling shut, and Revali could only watch as Link hit the ground.

Revali gaped at the crumpled body at his feet. Well, he thought dizzily, he wanted to know if Link died.

No. No. The idiot wasn’t dead yet.  _ Not for lack of trying _ . 

Absolutely not panicking, Revali dropped to his knees beside Link and reached out for him. It had been a hundred years but he still remembered checking and dressing wounds. Thanks to his time as a Champion, he had experience assisting not only Rito but Zora, Gerudo, Gorons, and of course, Hylians. He even remembered helping Link during the rare times Mipha couldn’t. Link was a combination of warrior sturdiness and frightening fragility, able to jump up from most wounds but the memory of his delicate broken bones still clear in Revali’s mind.

_ Check breathing and pulse _ , Revali thought, wingtip going for Link’s good shoulder.

Somehow, even after all this time, it stunned Revali when his wing passed right through Link.

Revali knelt beside Link, wings hovering over his limp body, and trembled. This was fine. He could manage this. Of  _ course _ he could manage this. It was just a small hurdle, nothing for someone of Revali’s cleverness.

“Don’t let this go to that thick head of yours,” Revali told Link, and if his voice shook a little, well, it wasn’t exactly like Link was conscious to hear it. “You’re our only hope, you know.”

Even if Revali couldn’t touch him, he could still check for breathing. As long as Link was breathing, everything would be fine. Link had visited him in terrible shape before, and --

Mipha! Revali exhaled, green light settling around him. Of course! This wasn’t the first time Link had collapsed in front of him. Last time, the idiot had insisted on gathering supplies from a Silver Lynel. The idiot succeeded but came to Revali with a gut wound. He then gifted Revali with the lovely image of him collapsing, only to be revived by Mipha. Revali had sent him down to the village before he could hurt himself further.

“You’ll be fine, you fool,” Revali breathed. Still, he continued his check. Fortunately, Link had the grace to land on his back, even if his legs were awkwardly bent and his left hand was under his body. Revali couldn’t physically check for a pulse but he watched the shaky rising and falling of Link’s chest. Not the best but not the worst, either. Still, something about Link bothered him.

Revali leaned over Link, narrowing his eyes. His shoulder was distracting, but Mipha should be able to handle that. It had to hurt, but that was what the idiot deserved. Revali’s eyes trailed downward, disturbed despite himself at the amount of blood. 

“Did you even attempt to dodge?” Revali murmured. “Or did you just --”

There were  _ two _ injuries. Or, at least, there  _ were _ .

Revali stared at the hole in Link’s tunic, the size of Link’s hand, just above Link’s hip. The fabric was burnt and bloody but the skin under it was clean.

Mipha had already healed Link.

Revali flapped his wings over Link and watched in horror as his feathers went right through him. “Link, Link, you idiot, you need to  _ wake up. _ ” 

Nothing. His chest kept rising but everything else remained deathly still. Link’s face was slack and white. If not for his chest moving…

Revali brushed Link’s pale cheek with his feathers and watched them go through Link’s skin. There was a splash of drying blood along Link’s jaw. “Link,  _ wake up _ . I can’t help you, you idiot. Death can hamper the skills of even one as great as myself.”

The Link of old would just stare at him when he made such a comment, eyes shielded. The new Link used his Gale to fly along dragons and fight Molduga and would crack a tiny smile or even roll his eyes at Revali. Anything but just lay there.

“Link,” Revali said, voice almost steady. “Wake up or you’re going to die. If you die here, I promise, not even Hylia Herself will stop me from harassing your spirit until the end of time.”

Still nothing. Why did the idiot think going to a  _ spirit _ was a good idea? Why not the Zora with their healing abilities or --

Revali perked up. With just a thought, he moved away from Link and now stood at the rock’s edge. One of the few perks of being dead: appearing wherever he wished instantly, provided it was within his boundaries.

Yes. There he was. The white Rito: Teba. Making his nightly solo flight to Revali’s Flight Range. What he did there every night, Revali couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. 

“If he can’t see me, Link,” Revali breathed, eyes on the lone white figure, “we’re both plucked.”

No time to think. Revali took to the air -- as much as he could -- and flew to the far edge of his boundary. It wasn’t far, not nearly as far as Revali would like, and he hoped Link’s luck stretched to cover the rest. “Teba!” he shouted. He couldn’t tell if Teba heard him or not. The other Rito seemed so far away. “Teba! Look up!”

Hylians were supposed to have the best hearing in all the land, but one should never ignore a Rito. Laughter bubbled in Revali’s throat as Teba paused, relaxing in an updraft instead of flying further. 

_ Hang on a little longer, Link. _ “Up here!” he shouted. He flapped his wings, even if it wasn’t necessary. The motion made him feel better. A cold, shivery feeling trembled through his feathers. If Revali wasn’t careful, he would blink and find himself back on Medoh, in the same place he woke up following his defeat. “Teba, look up!”

Teba did and, to Revali’s annoyance, almost fell out of the sky. Revali sighed. Had he never seen a dead Rito before?

“Come on!” he snapped impatiently. Not waiting for Teba to gather himself, Revali wheeled around and headed back toward Link. He flew slowly and deliberately, a clear trail for Teba to follow. 

Later he would think about how he talked to another person. Not just another person: another  _ Rito _ . Later, when there was no audience and no Link dying at Medoh’s feet.

He settled beside Link again and hovered one translucent wing over Link’s cheek. Link was panting now, unconscious but features tight with pain. Revali gnashed his beak. “Next time,” he said, “ _ duck _ .”

Later, Revali also planned on talking with Link about his stupid life choices. For now, Revali added, so softly that he could barely hear himself over the wind, “No joining me just yet, you idiot. It would be foolish for you to die when you finally started living.”

Wings flapped behind him. “You are -- Link!”

Revali couldn’t help himself. “Revali, actually,” he quipped. “This idiot is Link.”

Teba knelt on Link’s other side. His feathers were fluffed, making him look more like a startled cucco than a proud Rito warrior. His golden eyes were disturbingly wide, but to his credit, he only stared at Revali for a few seconds longer before turning his attention to Link. “Master… Master Revali. What happened?”

Master Revali. He liked the sound of that. So Link hadn’t been lying about that. “He tangled with some Guardians. Hurry and get him to aid. He’s getting worse.”

The awe faded from Teba’s face: not quite gone but determination taking its place. Gently, while Revali could only watch with half-buried envy, he picked Link up. Link groaned but his eyes still refused to open. To Revali’s further displeasure, when Teba stood, he was a head taller than Revali. Well, if it hadn’t been for Windblight and the Calamity, then Revali could have finished growing to his true, magnificent height.

To Revali’s frustration, Teba hesitated, even after he situated Link so he wouldn’t fall when Teba took to the air. “Master Revali, would you…?”

“I’ll be here,” Revali interrupted, not giving himself time to think. He waved at his rock, now stained with Link’s blood. “I can’t go anywhere else.”

Teba nodded curtly, eyes still a little too wide but feathers calming. “‘I’ll return then, Master Revali.” He glanced at Link, limp and quiet. “ _ We’ll _ return.”

Without another word, Teba launched himself off the rock, spiraling downward to the village below. Revali watched them go.

“If you wanted to introduce me to the villagers, Link, there are better ways to go about it.”

With a flare of green light, Revali returned to Medoh. On top of Medoh’s head, above the lethal red light, Revali sat and trembled. He brushed his feathers together and pretended, waiting for the sun to rise, that he could feel Link’s cheek against them.

**Author's Note:**

> More Legend of Zelda love on [tumblr](https://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
